What do you love about a Car-Free MLK Drive?

667

Supporters

1,000

Goal

We love car-free weekends on MLK Drive, and we're pretty sure you do too. Since 2020, this space has provided a safe area for folks to recreate, learn to ride a bike, host a group ride or run, clear your head, and really the list goes on.

We want to take this time to gather stories about how you use a car-free MLK Drive and what you love about it. 

Why now?

Despite weekend closures beginning back in the 1990s, the City announced November of last year that they wouldn't continue them during the winter. Now that spring has sprung, closures are back in place and we want to show city officials just how important this safe space is to all & make the case for keeping them year-round.

Especially as rehabilitation on the MLK Bridge (currently until 2025) and Falls Bridge (starting in 2025) progresses we want to make a clear argument to the City that residents take advantage of one of the only truly car-free spaces in our city.

There is also an argument to be made that there could be greater access for pedestrians and people on bicycles once the Benjamin Franklin Parkway is reimagined. 

Even before 2020, major cities all over the world have started to carve out car-free spaces. New York and San Francisco both made huge areas within parks car-free. Bogotá has experimented with car-free spaces since 1974! 

Share how you use a car-free MLK Drive and what you love about it. 

 

Letter

Please share how you use a car-free MLK Drive and what you love about it.

Supporters

  • Timothy Burgess Philadelphia, PA

    MLK drive is literally the only place in the city where you can feel safe from cars and have ample room to share with other cyclists and pedestrians. Our park spaces should be for recreation, not for highway overflow.

  • Ashley Lerch Philadelphia, PA

    The only thing good about Covid for me was the car-free West River drive. It became my happy place to get outdoors and ride my bike, and being car-free made the road so much safer!

  • Cody Saia Philadelphia, PA

    I bike everyday in this city and most drivers do not respect cyclist as equals in shared streets or even in spaces specifically designated just for cyclists (cars parked or driving(!!!) in bike lanes/bike prioritized streets like S 13th). Most motorist simply will not share the road with cyclists, so cyclists should have a space that is designed and upheld for cyclists only.

  • Lily Scott Philadelphia, PA

Letter

Please share how you use a car-free MLK Drive and what you love about it.

Supporters

  • Timothy Burgess Philadelphia, PA

    MLK drive is literally the only place in the city where you can feel safe from cars and have ample room to share with other cyclists and pedestrians. Our park spaces should be for recreation, not for highway overflow.

  • Ashley Lerch Philadelphia, PA

    The only thing good about Covid for me was the car-free West River drive. It became my happy place to get outdoors and ride my bike, and being car-free made the road so much safer!

  • Cody Saia Philadelphia, PA

    I bike everyday in this city and most drivers do not respect cyclist as equals in shared streets or even in spaces specifically designated just for cyclists (cars parked or driving(!!!) in bike lanes/bike prioritized streets like S 13th). Most motorist simply will not share the road with cyclists, so cyclists should have a space that is designed and upheld for cyclists only.

  • Lily Scott Philadelphia, PA

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Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia
1500 Walnut Street, Suite 1107, Philadelphia, PA 19102

215-BICYCLE (215 242-9253)